There are a variety of devices for spraying the inside of a pipe or other elongate cylindrical members, for instance see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,494,380, 3,585,076, 3,600,225, 3,658,589, 4,107,001, 4,144,898, 4,312,679, 4,518,041 and 4,799,554. In addition, there is a known technique used for automatically removing lube contained on the inside of the tubes manufactured from a Pilger reduction mill operation which uses a caustic wash/rinse process. However, because there may be a significant time lapse between the manufacture of the tube and its actual cleaning with the caustic wash/rinse, the lube can cool and set thereby making it much more difficult to remove. In addition, the caustic solution used in the cleaning operation must be treated after use to make it environmentally acceptable for disposal.
A second known system for cleaning the inside of pipes is a system manufactured by Nuken Company of West Germany which employs a machine utilizing an elaborate wash/rinse system with low fluid pressure. This system can accommodate a fixed number of tubes per cleaning cycle, i.e. it is a batch operated system which requires a significant amount of operator attention. It utilizes a series of rigid lances which each have a nozzle at one end thereof for spraying a cleaning fluid about the inner periphery of the tubes. A major drawback of this system, however, is that it requires a large operating floor space in front of or behind the cleaning equipment which is at least equal to the length of the tubes being cleaned to allow the rigid lances to be inserted into and retracted from the tubes, e.g. a tube of 60' of length would require more than 60' of additional floor space in front of or behind the cleaning equipment.
A third known system, which is used in the manufacture of tubular heat exchangers, employs nozzles, hoses and water pressures similar to that of the present invention. However, in such systems, the nozzles and hoses are fed manually through the tubes of a heat exchanger tube bundle which is typically located at a fixed location.
Wherefore, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a system which is able to clean the interior of a tube immediately after it has been manufactured.
It is a further object of the invention to utilize an environmentally safe cleaning fluid, such as water which may include a biodegradable cleaning agent, thereby eliminating the use of caustic materials and simplifying the treatment of the cleaning fluid before it is discharged into the environment.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device which operates substantially automatically thereby to reduce the labor cost involved in cleaning the tubes.
A further object of the invention is to provide a device which is relatively compact and does not require a large operating area.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device which adequately seals and drains both ends of the pipe to be cleaned and thereby reduces the amount of splash and/or leakage of the cleaning fluid into the work area.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a device which is able to clean pipes of different diameters and lengths regardless of the type of materials from which such pipes are manufactured.